The present invention relates to an electronic wall which holds an IC card used for the electronic money transaction system, and particularly to an electronic wallet which is useful for small amount payment by means of an IC card which stores electronic money.
In recent years, there has been proposed an electronic money transaction system for transferring electronic money based on the communication between IC cards which can store electronic money. The IC card used in this system incorporates a microprocessor having a communication function and a memory, e.g., EEPROM, for storing a processing program and the balance of electronic money. The IC card can be used for electronic money transaction with other IC cards through the electronic money transaction system which includes terminals installed in banks, retail stores, individual residences, etc. linked by the public telephone line, or by use of dedicated terminals.
In regard to the prior art electronic money transaction system, Japanese patent publication JP-A-Hei-8-115389 discloses an electronic wallet system, and Japanese patent publication JP-A-Hei-8-180154 discloses an electronic wallet apparatus. The electronic wallet system described in the former publication is capable of turning the IC card to the locked state automatically for the sake of enhanced security when it is pulled out of the IC card reader/writer, and unlocking the IC card automatically when it is put into the IC card reader/writer for the sake of the enhanced operability. The electronic wallet apparatus described in the latter publication has the provision of IC card protection for an IC card handling POS system for example, in which an illegality code is generated and recorded automatically in an IC card having a transaction record of a retail store or the like when it is pulled out of the register as illegal conduction, thereby provided the apparatus with the enhanced security and operability.
The above-mentioned electronic money transaction system is still at the stage of development, with its constituent devices being left indeterminate for their functions and configurations.
The electronic wallet carried by the user, with an IC card being held in it for the transaction of electronic money through the electronic money transaction system, is required to have such functions as reading out the balance of electronic money in IC cards and transferring electronic money between two pieces of IC cards. The user of IC card of electronic money is obliged to key-in many numeric characters with the ten-key set while viewing displayed characters in the display window for the entry of an amount of electronic money based on these functions (see U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/690966).
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic wallet which is carried by the user, with an IC card which can store electronic money that is current in the electronic money transaction system being held in it.
Another object of the invention is to provide an electronic wallet and a method of operation of the same capable of having a reduced number of operation keys and reduced operation board area without sacrificing the operability while having a large display window area, thereby enabling the user to enter and view an amount of money and the like easily.